as someone said, don;t need a weather balloon just a container ship or big a supertanker sitting off singapore and use it to launch small submersibles like the drug cartels are using.
as a student of naval warfare i have always wondered why navies build what they build. any supertanker could be easliy converted to helicpter operations or ssm platforms given how easy it is with modules. armor up the superstructure and engine area which, being larger, tends to attract asm’s. a hull that size can take numerous hits and stay afloat. cheap , expendable, and huge stike capability.
as a student of naval warfare i have always wondered why navies build what they build. any supertanker could be easliy converted to helicpter operations or ssm platforms given how easy it is with modules. armor up the superstructure and engine area which, being larger, tends to attract asm’s. a hull that size can take numerous hits and stay afloat. cheap , expendable, and huge stike capability.
I'd love to read your treatise on capital ships.
/s